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Korolov Background
Biography Early Life (20 BBY–5 BBY) Little is known about Vassily Korolov's early life. No records exist in any Imperial Databanks of his planet of birth, his parents, or date of birth. Rumors abound, however, that he is from a militant, caste-based society somewhere in the Inner Core. Still other rumors point to him being the by-product of an Imperial "super-trooper" breeding program. What is known is that approximately 5 years before the Battle of Yavin, Korolov arrived at the Imperial Academy on Carida for Military Training at the stated age of 15. Carida Academy & First Assignment (3 ABY–0 BBY) Vassily Korolov excelled at Carida. His high intelligence, exceptional agility, and physical strength made him an excellent soldier. He was always at the top of the lists in everything from academics, to sports, to combat training. His classmates respected him and Instructors could barely keep up with how quickly he was able to take new training and put it into practical use. On his 16th Birthday, barely a year into his time at Carida, he was put on a track to become a Stormtrooper Officer. Not only was it unheard of for a "plebe" to be placed in the program, Vassily Korolov was two years younger than the average First Year recruit at the Academy. He excelled there as well, learning to command Squads, Cohorts, Centuries, and Legions, as well as integrate Stormtrooper operations with Naval and IGF assets. It was during his time that he met Lorn Rhys, a new recruit into the Legions and assigned to the first Squad put under Vassily Korolov's command as an Officer-trainee. He qualified in all of the Stormtrooper specialties; Sandtrooper, Seatrooper, Snowtrooper, Radtrooper, Shadowtrooper, and Spacetrooper. By the ege of 19, he had set and broken every record the school measured. It was little suprise to anyone at Carida that he would graduate at the top of his class, with higher marks than any class the Academy had seen. It was at his graduation from the Carida Academy that Vassily Korolov met two men who would play a great role in shaping his destiny — Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were in attendance personally. Partially because the Rebellion was starting to gain ground, but also because they had heard of young Korolov and his success at the Academy. It would not be the last encounter Vassily would have with either of them and in the back of his mind, even then he knew something was different about him. He was Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Stormtrooper Legions and was given his choice of assignment. He had heard many great things about Grand Moff Wilhuf Tarkin and that the 501st Legion had been assigned to the new Death Star Battle Station. This really turned the choice into no choice at all. Despite his choice, his destiny was not to go there. As his transport jumped out of hyper-space at the rendezvous, the crew was met with distressing news. The Rebel Alliance had destroyed the Death Star near the gas giant Yavin. His ship was given new orders, to jump immediately to the Yavin system and meet with the Star Destroyer ''Avenger'' to finish what the Death Star could not. However, by the time the ships arrived, the Rebel defenders were long gone. The unit found berths aboard Avenger and set to pursuing the Rebel Alliance. Life in the Legions & the Battle of Hoth (1 ABY–3 ABY) As part of Avenger's embarked stormtrooper forces, Vassily spent the next three years fighting small battles on various worlds throughout the Empire. He had risen to the rank of Captain by the time the Avenger was put on point of Vader's infamous Death Squadron. With his extensive training, he was put in command of a cohort attached to the heralded Blizzard Force, tasked with spearheading the assault on the newly-uncovered Rebel base on Hoth. His unit, in particular, was on the flank, and took heavy casualties as the Imperial forces encircled and penetrated the defenses of Echo Base. It is reputed that Korolov's unit got strung out, and he led a platoon in on a rampaging assault of the base's south entrance, with the unit killing at least five Rebel soldiers per trooper. His unit's work paved the way for the arrival of Lord Vader, who, after the battle, recalled the young officer. Vader indeed remembered Korolov from their encounter on Carida, and noted that while some Rebels had managed to escape, it was relentless officers like Korolov that had ensured that the Alliance had paid a bitter price. Reward for this effort and recognition of Vassily came in the middle of the night — four nameless, faceless, black-garbed figures broke into his quarters and hit him with a stun pike. He was hastily transported off the ''Executor'' in an unmarked, transponder-less shuttle. The craft immediately jumped to hyperspace, carrying Korolov off to the next phase in his life. Yinchorr and Endor (3 ABY–4 ABY) When he awoke, he had been marooned on a desolate desert world with nothing but a vibro blade and a canteen. He traveled by night and slept during the day for nearly a week until he came across an ancient looking temple, situated in front of a large pit. Suspended over the pit were three pairs of intersecting platforms. This would be known as The Squall and become the central focus of his life over the next several months. He was not truly alone, and over the next few days, dozens more arrived. They camped outside of the temple, finding a water source nearby, as well as grazing animals and sparse vegetation. So began his training on the desolate wasteland known as Yinchorr. Almost a week went by of this mundaneness before a crimson-armored figure emerged from the temple and proclaimed them candidates for the honor of serving in the Emperor's Royal Guard. After they were given meager rations and training armor, they were paired up and again sent out to survive, this time functioning as a team. His partner was a Corellian named Modius Antilles. They would venture out among the planet's harsh surface, either on missions to specific training objectives, or to overcome obstacles that had been set up to challenge them. They also learned the combat arts of the Echani, including the weapons-based martial art that bears their name. The candidates learned to master the Force Pike, as well as the double bladed vibro-pike known as a glaive. It was here that he met Darth Vader yet again, and learned his first lesson in the power of the Dark Side. Three of his classmates died that day from Vader's lightsaber, and his affinity for crushing throats. Vassily himself was nearly disemboweled, and he still bears the scar across his torso from that encounter. With training coming to a close, the class of eight honed their skills in final preparation for the end. Eight were all that remained from an initial group of nearly sixty — so brutal were the rigors and consequences of the past year of training. Soon the eight men left Yinchorr, bound for the Imperial Capital of Coruscant. Here, Emperor Palpatine wished to personally conduct one final test. He instructed one pair at a time into his throne room, and gave them a singular order — kill the other. Without hesitation, Vassily flicked the vibro-weapon to life and launched an aggressive attack. He killed Modius forthright; a scar on his left arm the only reminder left of that battle. Korolov, and the other remaining three, were christened as Guardsmen, and would be the last initiates into the elite order. Vader was soon bound for a place called Endor, with Palpatine following a short time later, accompanied by a half-dozen more senior Guardsmen. Vassily took up a posting to the Imperial Palace, and was becoming a fixture within the order, when word of the second Death Star's destruction, and that of both Palpatine and Vader, tore through the Empire. Pandemonium erupted on Coruscant, and Korolov, like his fellow remaining Guardsmen, would be filled with a seething motive for revenge. The Dark Times and The Rise of Bacaharan Valak (4 ABY–8 ABY) The victorious Rebel Alliance was not content with their victory at Endor and soon set their sights on Imperial Center, Coruscant, the capitol of the Galactic Empire. The Royal Guard suffered their greatest defeat during that battle. Outnumbered and cut-off after the rout of the Imperial fleet, nearly 11,000 Royal Guardsmen moved into defensive positions inside the Imperial Palace. Setting out anti-personnel and anti-vehicle traps, the Guardsmen made use of their knowledge of the Palace and its surroundings to turn it into a charnel house for the invading force. However the Rebel Marines had superior numbers and heavy air support. Nearly constant bombardment and engagement after engagement inflicted heavy casualties on both sides; tens of thousands of Marines were killed or wounded as the Imperial Royal Guards close quarters battle skills were without peer in the galaxy. Vassily Korolov started the battle as a Legionnaire, assigned to a 10 man squad defending one of the auxiliary positions at the palace. Through the first day of fighting, X-wing attacks and skirmishes with Marines had cut his squad nearly in half, including the Squads Centurion. Vassily took charge of the situation and launched what was the most daring and depending on point of view despicable engagements of the battle. Legionaire Korolov's squad was personally responsible for nearly a thousand deaths when they snuck under the cover of darkness into a rebel field hospital set up in the palace grounds. Quietly killing the sentries and guards before making their way into the hospital building where they killed every living being. His men threw fragmentation grenades in the medical wards and cut apart the unarmed medical staff. They stole all of the medical supplies they could carry before setting off plasma charges to cause the building to burn. They abandoned their auxiliary position and fell back into main compound, delivering the supplies to keep the Royal Guards fighting strength up. Engagement after engagement and nearly constant bombardment overwhelmed the Royal Guards fighting positions throughout the vast Palace. After nearly 3 months of constant warfare, the Royal Guard could fight no longer. Running dangerously low on supplies, nearly every man was fighting with some wound or another that would merit a Tarkin medal in any other battle, the survivors made the decision to abandon the palace. Those incapable of moving were given what ammo and explosives that remained. They would hold out for as long as possible, killing as many Rebels as they could before killing themselves. There would be no Guardsmen taken prisoner in this fight. By using the secret passageways and tunnels, Vassily Korolov led less than a thousand survivors out of the overrun palace and to prepositioned transports to make their way off planet. Ten long range attack shuttles were their last hope of survival. The guardsmen boarded the shuttles and made their way into space. Several of the transports were destroyed or disabled while trying to break through the blockading fleet. More marines would die trying to clear the disabled ships of their passengers. Of the legion of Royal Guard that had started the battle on Coruscant, less than 500 made it out of the system. Those 500 along with other units scattered throughout the Galaxy all made their way back to their place of last refuge, Yinchorr. The irony of the desolate, inhospitable world causing cheers of happiness to ring out through the transport vessels was not lost on the Guardsmen. They landed and began setting up defensive positions in the Temple. A few months later, a Naval Captain by the name of Bacharan Valak stumbled across the unmarked planet, and made contact with the Guardsmen. He informed them of the Imperial Ruling Council's survival and brought them back into the fold. The Royal Guard began recruiting again, drawing the cream of the crop from the Stormtrooper legions and bringing them to the Squall. The new Legions of Royal Guardsmen again appeared in the halls of power on Dreven, the new Capitol World for the Galactic Empire. Vassily was promoted to Centurion then, and placed in charge of the Royal Guard force on Dreven when then Admiral Valak arrived to take over the reigns of power. Valak was impressed with Korolov's record and transferred him to his Personal detachment. He served as one of Valak's guard until a plot to overthrow his reign was uncovered involving now Moff Lorn Rhys. The Royal Guard acted again as a military force, working with the ISB to ferret out the members of the Vigilant Movement and execute most of them. Many entire governmental organizations were purged because they were completely rotten with vigilant traitors. The prestigious and secretive Shadow Guard was one such group. Vassily Korolov personally executed the leader of the Shadow Guard Damon Tyr in the Imperial Palace on orders from the recently coronated Emperor himself. For his actions, and obvious loyalty to Emperor Valak, Vassily Korolov was promoted to Tribune, commander of the Royal Guard legions. OOC Information * This is Vassily Korolov's background leading up to the time he was first played in 1998. * Most of the information contained here is for informational purposes only.